She spent most of the afternoon pouring through her dense library. Always an avid reader, after her husband’s death, Anna’s fascination with the afterlife and all related phenomenon had filled her spare bedroom with books, books and more books.
“One of these days, I’ll organize everything,” she muttered to herself while scanning the jam-packed shelves. It was a familiar vow. And one she’d yet to find the time to honour. She didn’t know exactly what she looked for, but something told her that during one of her recent impulse book buying sprees, she’d picked up a book that would be useful; that might explain her experience last night and the man with whom she’d shared that experience.
Whoosh! A white paperback with purple lettering literally flew off the second shelf and landed on her foot, spine first, sending a sharp zing of pain through her big toe.
“What the hell?” She bent and scooped up the book. The title was Astral Love. Anna frowned. She didn’t remember buying this particular book, but she could hardly overlook the fact that it had catapulted itself from the bookshelf.
She flipped through the pages, overcome with curiosity. She sank into the beanbag chair tucked into one corner of the room and immersed herself in the book. Hours later, the sun dipped low, casting shadows across her small office. She blinked and glanced at the clock on her desk. Had she really been reading that long? The crick in her neck and the grumble in her stomach confirmed she had. She set the book aside, having read most of it, and made her way to the kitchen to fix a sandwich.
She’d read a couple books on astral travel before attempting the procedure herself. She had not come across anything like the information in Astral Love. Apparently, one could actually meet others on the astral plane and connect with them for love-making. There were many tips and tricks relayed by the author on how to go about attracting the right type of astral lover and how to avoid unpleasant characters. Just as on the Earth plane, not all beings travelling the hidden realms were kind and scrupulous.
Anna spread mayo on her wholewheat bread and thought about her interlude with the sexy stranger. Had he gone looking for a lover and discovered her? Did he intend to make love to her? She wondered what that would feel like. Just the thought of him touching her intimate places, of his hands and mouth on her bare skin, created a tingle of desire between her legs. It had been so long. . her heartbeat accelerated as her mind wondered about what the stranger might do to her.
Her cell phone emitted her 1970s dance tune ringtone and Anna jumped, startled. She hurried to the coffee table where she’d left the phone. She glanced at the number. Her best friend, Tina. Tina was fifteen years older than Anna, a die-hard hippy who studied all things metaphysical. It was Tina who’d introduced Anna to astral travel.
“Hey,” Anna said into the phone. “What’s up?”
“What’s up? I’ve been calling you all day. You didn’t get my messages?”
Anna glanced at her phone. Three missed calls and two text messages. Whoops. “I’m sorry, I was reading and I got so caught up in my book I didn’t hear the phone.”
“Yeah, I know how that is.” Tina did understand. She was more of a bookworm than Anna. “There’s an independent film festival going on this weekend at that theatre I was telling you about. The old one with all the cool architecture that they just renovated? Thought you might want to go see the movie playing tonight.”
Anna frowned. While she did want to see Tina, if she went to the movie she knew she’d get back too late to attempt any travelling. She’d be so tired she’d just want to sleep. And suddenly, she was very, very eager to get back to her possible lover.
“Um, not tonight Tina. I’m already having my dinner, and I’m sort of tired.” She didn’t bother to tell Tina why she was tired. She wasn’t ready yet to share the details of her nocturnal liaison or Richard’s message.
“Are you sure? You know if you’re not there, I’ll be forced to keep any attractive guy I meet for myself.” Lately, Tina’s mission had been to help Anna find a man. She’d decided Anna had been depressed and dateless for long enough. Anna knew that Tina was right, of course, but she just didn’t have it in her to make menial small talk with strangers while wondering whether her lipstick was on her teeth or the jeans she’d chosen made her butt look big. The few times Tina had dragged her to spots where she thought Anna might meet a guy, the men Anna had met were anything but interesting. She wanted someone who shared her interests. Unfortunately, her interests of late were slightly outside the norm. So far, no luck.
“I’m sure. Try to go easy on the boys. Next time, okay?”
Tina sighed. “Alright, but I’m holding you to that!”
“Deal. Have fun. Bye.”
Anna closed her phone and returned to the kitchen to finish making her sandwich, the phone call quickly forgotten as she planned her evening.
This time, Anna took precautions. She set a very put-upon looking Emerson out of her bedroom and shut — and locked — her door. Following the advice in Astral Love, she had already showered, brushed her teeth, applied a bit of ruby red lipstick, and dressed in her favourite silky number. The book admonished those who sought an astral lover to be sure to treat their pursuit seriously. You wouldn’t go out on a date with poor hygiene or messy hair, the author had insisted.
Although she’d felt a bit foolish getting all glammed up to lie on her bed alone, Anna had followed the directions anyway. She didn’t want to take any chances that she wouldn’t find the stranger again tonight on the astral plane.
Anna let the soothing, New Age feel-good tunes she’d chosen to listen to drift over her and lull her into that calm, relaxed state of semi-consciousness where you hovered just on the edge of sleep, but had not yet stepped off the ledge into unconsciousness.
She focused on sensing her energy body, the part of herself squatting inside her physical form and, after a few moments, she could feel her spirit body moving and vibrating. Her whole body was starting to shake and twitch and a rushing sound filled her ears, like a jet engine revving for take-off.
Out, she thought. Out and up. With one swift jerking motion she lifted off and out of her body. Immediately, the roaring sound stopped, and she envisioned herself on her favourite beach. The place where the sexy stranger had first contacted her.
She had been standing on the beach for what seemed like mere moments when he appeared beside her. Just as Anna, he was clad in the same attire as the last time they’d met. Which was a good thing, because the man’s chest and abdomen were just too beautiful to hide. She ached to bury her face there and run her lips over his skin.
She blinked and tried to focus her thoughts on talking to him. All she could think of was touching that delicious golden skin of his again.
“Angel,” he murmured, brushing her face with his fingertips. “I’m glad you came back.”
“Of course I came. I’ve been travelling these realms for some time now.”
He flashed a rakish smile. “Ah, I see. So you would come here regardless of my presence?”
She nodded.
The stranger leaned close and nuzzled her neck, causing a riot of goose bumps to break out over her arms. “But you did hope to see me, didn’t you? At least a little bit?” He trailed his fingers over her arms, feeling the telltale bumps. Her nipples hardened in response.
“Your body is happy to see me,” he said.
His lips trailed her neck feather-light; for a moment she thought she imagined the touch. Then he leaned back so their eyes met. “Angel, there can be no pretence between us. Not here.”